![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
So far this month we've gotten the nursery just about complete. My goal is to have it furniture-ready by Nov 1. Just about all of the painting is done, Eric put up the chair rails, we've got just a bit more touch ups, clean up, and we should be good to go. Mom said she's ordering the crib on Thursday, so hopefully it will get here by December.
My niece turns 2 years old on Friday, but we celebrated her birthday yesterday at Hill High Farm's pumpkin patch. The weather was beautiful, and thankfully so, since Friday and Saturday were both crappy weather days.
Let me tell you about Saturday's weather. This was the day Eric and I had decided to spend in seach of a sofa for our den. There are several furniture stores in the Sterling area, and we planned on visiting at least four or five of them. The torrential rains we experienced, however, left us absolutely soaked -- I hate wearing wet blue jeans -- and for some reason the sales people seemed even more sales-y than usual. We left the fourth store (I was in a mad rage, I don't know about Eric) having no better information on what sofa we'd get than we did before we even started shopping. We went home, got into pajamas, and went to sleep while watching college football. And that's how I spent the rest of Saturday (aside from checking out the new 'super' wal-mart to get a birthday gift for my niece, and curtains for the nursery).
We had the company annual chili cookoff on the 18th, the same day my other niece was dedicated at church. Busy day! We've managed to steal some time between working on the house and working on . . . well, work . . . to host two poker nights, one for cash and one for bragging rights. Brad won the bragging rights, I won the cash :-) Technically I guess anyone who ended up with more money than they put into the pot was a winner.
I haven't paid too much attention to Heroes, but I have to the Office with the exception of last week's episode. I would like to catch up on that at some point between now and Thursday, but I'm not sure when that will be. Our days basically consist of work, then dinner, then some project around the house (usually the nursery), then sleep. Get up and start all over again. Weekends bring relief to this schedule, though we still keep busy with birthdays or other sorts of celebrations.
This week it's our anniversary on Friday (5 years!), I enter third trimester (yay!), and my niece officially turns 2. Saturday is prep the house for halloween.
Tangent: See, since halloween is NOT a 'season' like Christmas or even Thanksgiving, I only like to decorate for that day specifically. The next day all the scaries come down, and the thanksgiving/fall/harvest decorations go up. And, since I'm an oddball, Nov. 1 marks the beginning of my "holiday season" in general.
In November, we've got:
Sometime between Friday 10/30 and Friday 11/6 - Get a Rhogam shot
Nov 8 - Baby shower at SG
Nov 21 - Kidney Ball
Nov 25 - The All Night Turkey Smoke (if you're in town, you're welcome to come! It's the Smith Family's annual Thanksgiving Eve party!)
Nov 26 - Thanksgiving with Wayne/Sandy and then Pam/Mike
Nov 27 - Christmas Decorating, or Black Friday Shopping if anyone actually wants to go with me ( . . . ???)
Goal for November: Finish the Den
In December we've got:
Dec 4 - Company holiday dinner
Dec 6 - SG Ladies Christmas Lunch (I'm helping out with decorations, just not sure when)
Dec 12 - Baby Shower followed by Eric's and my annual Christmas party (facebook event Save the Date to be sent sometime in November)
Dec 13 - SG Christmas Program
Dec 19 - Amanda's Christmas Party
Dec 24/25 - Christmas!
Goal for December: Get the Nursery furniture, and have it set up and ready to go!
Notice how I've got nothing really scheduled for November? That's on purpose. I am trying to keep my weekends as open as possible just to relax a bit before the holidays. Once they get here, there's no real down time, and then Cassy will be here!
So, that's my update.
Love that chicken from Popeyes. Somewhat.
It's hard to believe we're nearly halfway through it though. I'll be running payroll tomorrow already, and when that day creeps up on me it's an indiciation that time is moving a little too quickly for my tastes. BUT, that being said, that's usually how it happens when the first of a month falls over a weekend.
We went camping last weekend (Oct 2 - 4) at George Washington National Forrest, North River. I'd never been to that campground before, but my dad has been going there since he was about 6 or 7 years old. We went camping with my parents, something I haven't done since I was just a little kid! Since we were so close to EMU, my brother was able to join us for a little bit on both nights, between baseball games and practices. My sister came to stay Saturday night with us, too, and I had never been camping with her. It was really just a fun weekend! Dad cooked up some wonderful dinners, Eric and I went on a very easy hike, played some games, read, just relaxed. We had s'mores (s'more of what?) over an awesome campfire. I missed camping. We hadn't been in over a year!
This past weekend we were actually at home for the first time in what feels like forever. We did a lot of work on Cassy's nursery, and had our electrician, Tony, out to get the nursery fan and lights to work on a switch, and by remote control. Eric spent a lot of time building up the side garden of our house, and I think he did a fantastic job! We now have a stone path that makes its way from our driveway to the backyard, and it's lined with what I hope will be a "colorful shade garden." I say hope because I still have hit-or-miss skills at growing plants. I did plant about $40 worth of bulbs on Saturday, which should all come up in the spring.
We got to see Nate and meet Jessica on Saturday night. It was very fun; we broke out the old Taboo game, played guys v. girls. Jessica and I got out to an early lead, but the boys ended up the victors. Oh well; I blame it on being too hungry to concentrate! We watched part of Kickboxer (loooooove JCVD!), but I was too tired having been up since around 8a and working pretty hard all day.
Sunday I was in the nursery at church along with my brother and sister in law, then out to lunch with the Nusbaums. We went to the store after lunch (good thing to go shopping on a FULL stomach, not an empty one!), and I made some potato salad for the cookout we were having later that night, while also watching football and dozing off. My FFB team should be really good--but when my two starting WRs combined for less than 5 points, I pretty much just threw in the towel. Especially looking at my opponent's defense sitting pretty at 20 points. Ugh.
We had the Nusbaum family over for dinner, showed them the video of our cruise, had some delicious apple pie. After they went home for the evening, we finished watching Kickboxer, then just went to sleep.
It was a busy two weekends, with this upcoming weekend being much the same fashion. This weekend is the Chili weekend, with chili and football on Saturday at M&C's, and then the annual chili cookoff on Sunday (also with football, naturally!) :-) Can't wait!!
Eric and I recently returned from our five year anniversary celebratory cruise to the Western Caribbean, on board Royal Caribbean's "Freedom of the Seas." The Freedom and it's sister ship the Liberty of the Seas are currently the largest cruise ships (in the world!) in operation. Even with that knowledge, though, we were both still completely in awe at this floating metropolis that we were to call home for the week!
But that is not where our trip started. We actually arrived in florida a day early, on Saturday 9/12, and spent the afternoon at the Kennedy Space Center. Neither of had ever been! It was fascinating to see things like where space shuttles are actually constructed, to see the Crawler, the machine that transports the completed shuttle to the launch pad (side note: I apparently just assumed the shuttle was constructed outside on the launch pad!). We got to see a "Go for Launch" simulation, and several videos explaining the Kennedy Space Center and all it does. As we were waiting for the free shuttle back to the hotel, a group of four (Aileen, Reggie, Norma, and Ray) waiting next to us asked if we happened to be waiting for the Radisson shuttle -- which we were. After some small talk, we all realized we were going on the same cruise! That was pretty cool, because Port Canaveral boards Disney, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean, so they could easily have been on a different cruise line. They invited us for poolside drinks later in the evening, which we were glad to accept.
The next day, after easily clearing check-in and security, we were able to board the Freedom. We had a nice lunch buffet at the Windjammer on board, and managed to get into our stateroom around 1pm. We spent the day exploring the ship before dressing for our first dinner in Leonardo's, the ship's main (elegant) dining facility. Each night the dress code is at least business casual -- no tank tops, no shorts, that sort of thing. Two nights of the week are all-out formal nights, where men are encouraged to wear tuxedos. The meals at Leonardo's are definitely top-notch. They are all three courses, with about 3 - 6 selections for each course. The whole week we feasted on prime rib, black angus top sirloin, filet of beef, lobster, etc, etc. Soooo tastey! And, it was all you can eat. Unfortunately most of the time I wasn't very hungry after our daily excursions, so I just kept to the initial dinner portions :-)
Every night after dinner there is a theater production in the Arcadia theater. The shows are really well done! We watched several -- Marquee, which was a tribute to broadway, Once Upon a Time which was a fairy tale rock opera of sorts, there was a magic show, and several other entertaining things. If not shows, the Freedom is home to a lot of bars, three pools, an arcade, an ice skating rink, a mini golf course, a casino . . . there is ALWAYS something to do! We did a little bit of everything, except ice skating. We did watch the Freedom Skater's performance though.
Monday we were at sea all day en route to Haiti, so we just hung out by the pool and took it easy. We did suffer over an hour of a seminar by Shopping Shelby, this woman whose entire job revolves around talking people into spending more money than they have. She actually said at one point "Bring two credit cards with you, because you WILL max out one of them!" and talked a lot about reverse buyer's remorse -- where you don't want to get back on board the ship wishing that you had purchased something you saw, but didn't. We ended up leaving halfway through it because I could only take so much inanity. Monday night was the first formal night, the "Captain's Dinner" and party on the promenade. Both were wonderful! We saw a show after dinner and just had fun at different bars. We made it a somewhat early night, since we had our first port of call the next day!
On Tuesday we woke up to Haiti out our window. Haiti takes up 1/3 of the island, the Dominican Republic takes up 2/3. I was excited to visit Haiti because now I've been to both sides of the island. Funny how they weren't very dissimilar! We began our time on Haiti by kayaking around the shore, listening to a guide tell us tidbits about Haiti and its people. We stopped off on a beach for some shoreside shopping, and bought a shot glass and a hand-carved stone statue. After kayaking we enjoyed a buffet lunch and some musicians that played the same 6 songs over and over on again. I was amused because they were trying to sell their cd, but I couldn't imagine how they would have filled out an entire cd with such few songs. After lunch we snorkled, which was nice except that we had spent $20 on an underwater Kodak camera, which got a hole in it and ended up leaking over all the film. Boooo! Totally wasted! But while snorkling we got to see a sea snake and a lot of colorful fish, while swimming over a nice reef. The only bad part (aside from the camera, which I consider a fluke) was a nasty, hairy European man, overweight, in a speedo, that kept swimming right in front of me. Do you know how difficult it is to back paddle when you're wearing flippers? NOT FUN. After snorkling we spent some time haggling in the Labadee Market, looking specifically for sunglasses but ending up with a small purse that I will use for other excursions. The Haitian people are poor, and they all sell the same items, so I felt guilty buying from one person and not another, but at least any money spent goes to a good cause. Tuesday back on the ship was dinner and another show, and the Casino. Eric sucks at slots! I was sort of relieved to discover this, because I thought I was unnaturally bad at them (yes, bad at a luck-based thing). We lost $10 or so, and called it quits.
Wednesday we woke up in Jamaica. Jamaica was by far my favorite country of the four we visited. I completely agree with their lifestyle, they have national pride, and even though the country's infrastructure is lacking, it is still just beautiful! We began with a bus ride up Fern Gully, Jamaica's rainforest, that used to have a river coursing through it. The river dried up and so it was paved over, creating the road that we drove on. Next was Shawpark Gardens, a botantical garden that was once part of Shawpark Hotel, a vacation destination in Jamaica. The hotel has since stopped running, but the gardens remain and they are just breathtaking. There is a beautiful overlook of Ocho Rios, waterfalls, endless flowers and countless trees and other greenery. At the end of our tour, a man with a donkey, a bird, and a bunny met us. He was trying to sell pimenta, or all spice, which is a VERY important spice to island people. It's like their cure-all. I didn't buy any, but I did get my picture taken with that donkey.
Then it was Dunn's River Falls. This deserves its own paragraph(s), simply because of what it is. The excursion booklet that we read stated that this was a moderate activity, had no cautioning against being pregnant, and no special notes as far as dress code, specifically for shoes. So we show up and expect to be able to hang out at the base of the waterfall, just playing in the water. We understood that there were groups that went, in case you wanted to hike the waterfalls. No biggie, we figured this would be like cascades at VT, or Buoma in Fiji. We would just let the group carry on, while we hung back and just enjoyed the (GORGEOUS!!!) Jamaican beach. Well, no dice. We get to the base of the falls, and it is a ZOO! There were thousands of people climbing the waterfall -- actually, literally, climbing the rocks with water pouring over them. I looked at Eric, then at my shoes (thong sandals), then at our (non water proofed) camera, and thought, what did we just get ourselves into? I took off my shoes because NO WAY could I climb in them, and handed them to Eric who put them in his swim trunks pocket. Now, first things first -- people make you climb QUICKLY. They're all stressed out about you keeping up with your group for some reason. This confused me, because the only way to go is up, so everyone would eventually end at the same place anyway. But one man seemed to take this concept to the extreme, and frantically tried to catch up to his group (several groups ahead of us) by leap-frogging people and jumping from rock to slippery rock. In the process of doing this, he barrelled into Eric, who was just trying to take a picture with our (again, non water proofed camera). Eric plunged forward, and I reached out just in time to grab his arm holding the camera so the camera didn't get submerged like the rest of him. The man flipped over Eric's shoulder, and landed in the pool of rocks and water in front of us. Eric asked him if he was ok, and without doing the same in return, the man just said "Well, I didn't do that on purpose!" and continued recklessly climbing the rocks. We all watched as he slipped and fell another five times before reaching the next tier of rocks. Now let me tell you -- these rocks are slippery. Anyone who has ever been in coursing water trying to step on rocks should understand this. And, the falls are TALL -- 600 feet, and although they are not all straight up, there are sections that are. You actually need to depend on your group or other people to help lift and hoist you along, sort of making a human chain. Would you want this man as part of your chain? I certainly didn't. He was just vigilante, pushing people out of the way while trying to get to his group. So, this was not the environment for a pregnant lady to try to suffer. We made it up almost halfway before exiting on one of the three exits, and watched as that man and others slipped and fell their way up the rocks. By this point my sandals were long gone -- they probably washed away when that crazy man plowed Eric into the water. At least the camera was safe! Eric had to run all the way back to our bus (not a close distance) to get money in order for us to bargain with some people to get a new pair of sandals. Luckily, as with Haiti, there were shops all around, so we were able to find cheapie sandals that you'd maybe pay $3 for at WalMart . . . and bought them for $15 (to be fair, they were asking $30!). We also bought the necessary shot glass, and made it back to the bus feeling tired and . . . lucky to have survived?
Thursday was spent on Grand Caymen. Our excursion began with a tour through Queen Elizabeth's Garden. Caymen is ruled by England, and the Queen actually came over to dedicate the garden many years ago. Our guide explained to us that she hasn't been back since. Hmmm. Anyway, the garden was . . . ok. It seemed a little run down, a little overgrown, and was no where near as beautiful as Shawpark in Jamaica. Our guide was the same as our bus tour guide, the same as our driver -- a trifecta of talents if you will -- so he did his best to point out somethings to us. The best thing he pointed out was a lazy blue iguana sunning himself. I miss Lance!! But that was maybe the highlight, before boarding the bus again to go to Pedro Castle. Pedro Castle was sort of a sham, but did have any historical value so it wasn't a total loss. Basically, back in the 18th century when the Caymen Islands were first being discovered, many Brits came over for many different purposes -- to study the islands, to seek new lands, looking for adventure, etc. One such person was William Eden, a statesmen, who ended up building what became known as the "Great House" on the shorefront of Grand Caymen. Now, the Caymen Islands are not naturally inhabited by humans, so they have no one true identity. Eden married some girl from the island (not sure how she or her parents got there), and they raised their family in this Great House. The house was named so because it dwarfed any other house on the island. Because of this, it was actually home to the democracy of the Caymen Islands -- this was the meeting house for government dealings. But the house was an unlucky one -- the Eden's daughter, Mary Jane, got struck by lightening at the base of the stairs, died instantly, and the house caught fire. The Eden family left. Then, years later, descendents of the Eden family returned and rebuilt the house only to have it destroyed by a hurricane. Again, the house was left untouched. That is, until 1953 when some guy named Hubbell discovered the remnants, thought it must have been a castle, so he purchased the land and rebuilt a castle in place of the house, naming it Pedro St. James Castle, and his intentions were to make it a tourist trap. So, that's how it got it's name, and why Eric and I thought we were going to see a bonafide castle. You can imagine my disappointment when we showed up and it was nothing more than a beach house. You see, Hubbell died just a few years later, and the land again went untouched until 1991 when the government purchased it and restored the house to its "original" look, and opened it as a historic property to the public. So, no castle. But history at least.
After Pedro Castle, we were on our way to Stingray City. I consider stingrays to be the puppies of the ocean -- they are so friendly! They swam around us in droves, and at first it was really unsettling, because of Steve Irwin. But our guide explained the fluke after fluke after fluke that led to Irwin's death, and I felt better. Especially after he showed us how small the stinger on the ray actually is -- then put it in his mouth! Those crazy Caymens. Eric managed to get a great picture of one of the rays swimming right up into my arms. Talk about your perfect timing! We got to feed them -- they have like little vaccuum mouths that suck the food right out of your hand when they swim buy. At first it really startled me because, well, I wasn't even holding food! I was just standing near the food bucket, and one ray came by and sucked my hand. Yes, I nearly shrieked, it was so unexpected. But they only sense by smell, not vision, so he didn't know. He just knew that my hand was near something that smelled tastey :-) On our way back to shore, we boated right through a storm. I thought I'd be uneasy being in the middle of the ocean and going through a storm, but I wasn't. It was beautiful! Once we got back we just boarded the ship, since our time at Caymen was so short (only from 8:30 - 3:15).
Back on board, we had our second formal dinner of the week, but we didn't get as formally dressed up as before (since no one else at our table was). Then drinks at Olive or Twist, and the after dinner show.
On Friday we awoke in Cozumel, Mexico. This was the first time our oceanview room did not face the land, so we had to take the first shot of the land from one of the ship's decks. Mexico was just as I had pictured it would be. I was not surprised by anything, I didn't have any thoughts that weren't to the letter of what I figured they should be. For that reason, I think, Mexico is comforting to me. We didn't have any time to look around Cozumel, though, because we immediately boarded another ferry that would take us to Playa Del Carmen on the mainland. We were off to see the ruins! I had never seen ancient ruins before, and was so excited to have this opportunity. As we drove through Mexico, the guide explained the culture and the history of the land. The ferry ride was about 45 minutes, and the bus ride to the ruins about an hour. Once we finally got there our guide gave us a fairly short introduction to the ruins and the Mayan civilization before turning us loose to explore on our own. Grey iguanas hung out on every ruin -- and they are masters of camouflage. Sometimes you really had to look to see them! We got to see the small buildings that track teh seasons by how perfectly the sun shines through the little windowed slits. You knew that these were buildings specifically for calendar tracking, because otherwise Mayan architecture is void of windows. We got to see the painting house, which is basically where all the decorative architecture is located, the temple, and governor's house, and the government building. All of this overlooks a simply amazing, crystal-blue beach with white sandy shores. We did find one small building off the beaten path, that we were actually able to go up and walk around in (all 'main' buildings are roped off). The house was incredibly small; I don't think it was someone's residence, but maybe more like a storage cellar or something. The ruins were beautiful, and I was so glad to have seen them!
The ruins were all we really had time for in Mexico, aside from some brief shopping for last-minute souvenirs (shot glass!). The travel time to and from the ruins, taking nearly 2 hours (4 hours total) really ate in to our time in the country, but I would not have done anything differently. This was our last day of excursions!
Saturday was spent at sea, again, and we just soaked up the sun by the pool and lounged around. We hit up the casino again, this time for roulette, which we sucked equally bad at as the slots, but had more fun losing because they were OUR choices that had us lose, not some silly machine's. There was the last night show, which was not spectacular. The comedian they had was honestly pretty lame! Then we met Norma, Ray, Aileen, and Reggie for some drinks at Schooner Bar, then moved to Olive or Twist. This was a great way to end our cruise adventure -- nice and relaxing, with good new friends and tastey drinks.
Sunday we were up EARLY and off the ship. Our timing wasn't perfect for this; we ended up just waiting in our hotel's lobby for our room to open up for about four hours! Taxi fare is a rip off in Port Canaveral, so we couldn't really go anywhere, except to McDonald's across the street. So we just sat, and waited, for what seemed like an eternity. Once we were finally allowed in our room, we did go to sleep for a few hours. We spent the afternoon at Ron Jon's Surf Shop and walking along Cocoa Beach. We grabbed dinner on the pier, which was actually delicious (it's funny how 3-course fancy food can get to be overwhelming!), and walked all the way back to our hotel. We spent the evening at the pool and watching football or reading. Monday was our flight home, landing us at Dulles just after 3pm. After collecting our luggage and hailing a cab, we were home! It was so good to be home!
I would not call this trip relaxing. To relax, to me, means to get bored eventually. I never once got bored. I only ever got sleepy, so I'd go to sleep and then wake up in a new country and start all over again! We kept on the move a great deal, and next time I think maybe instead of so many excursions, I would want to schedule some down time on the islands themselves, to just roam around at my leisure. That's maybe the only thing I'd do differently. That, and not go see that shopping lady's seminar. :-)
1.) Find your fans!! go here: http://apps.facebook.com/fancheck/
2.) Write the names of everyone (1-20) on your fan list below.
3.) Don't read the questions first!! You'll kill it!
4.) Tag everyone you mentioned.
If you're tagged, repost this note with your fans!!
1. Kim Bono
2. Courtney Silverthorn
3. Anna Johns
4. Nicole Allen
5. Pam Kelly
6. Karen Walkup
7. Tammie Gates
8. Kitty Shadman
9. Rhonda Parvin
10. Kathy Keyser
11. Kendra Lane
12. Kelly Meadows
13. Melissa Kegg
14. Amanda Smith
15. Matt Silverthorn
16. Brian Forehand
17. Robin Magalik
18. Ann-Marie Hajdics
19. Kim Parker
20. Vanessa Wilson
→Are you honestly surprised about any of these?
No not really -- Most of these people are my baby-to-be supporters! :-)
→How did you meet 4?
Eric and Dan Allen have been friends for countless years . . . so when Dan found the woman of his dreams, we just had to meet her! They made the trek from Michigan to VA so everyone in these parts could meet Nicole, and then the next time I saw her she was a bride!
→How much does 6 mean to you?
I'm so blessed that I got to know Karen! She is part of the Bailey side of the family, Eric's Grandma Louise's niece. Family and heritage is so important to me that to be able to befriend someone from my family's roots is just thrilling to me!
→Describe 14 in two words.
Role Model - I am just so proud of Amanda and all she's accomplished!
→What is your most fond memory with 15?
Jeeze, where to begin. Sure, any beach trip, of course. But then three other memories stick out -- after a rather disappointing breakup with my then boyfriend, Matt spent the day with me and sang I'll Be to make me feel better (it worked! :-) ) -- Walking with Matt (and Ryan!) and having those creepy steaming sewer lids all around VT's campus, while saying "it came to pass" and "be that as it may" -- and lastly, when Matt gave me a frog necklace and Disney's Robin Hood for Christmas one year, because he knew how much I loved that movie (I still have it, even though it's VHS and I don't have a VHS player!)
→Do you know all of 2's secrets?
I don't pretend to know all of anyone's secrets, that's why they're secrets, but I would think that Courtney would share with me things that concern or trouble her, as I would with her.
→If you could marry either 1 or 20, who would it be?
Sorry ladies, I'm taken! hahaha
→How far do you think you are on 5's fan list?
That's hard to say. I visit a LOT of people's pages, but I don't always leave comments, and I think that's how this thing measures fandom. But for Pam, specifically, I did leave several messages about painting, so I don't think I'd be far up on the list but it's possible I'm on the list at all, if that helps.
→When is the next time you're going to see 7?
Not sure when, but I can surely bet where! Rio Grande baby!!! Actually, I'd bet after little Gates is born :-)
→When is the last time you saw 17?
Last week :-)
→How do you think 13 feels about you?
Fellow female foosers always feel good about each other, and Mel is such a naturally kindhearted person she probably just supports and wishes the best for me and our other fooser friends.
→Are 11 and 12 anything like each other?
They are both extremely nice and caring people, very loyal and supportive friends.
→Describe the relationship between 14 and 20.
A relationship doesn't really exist between them. They have met, and I think they would probably find each other as interesting companions, but that's about it?
→Would you ever want to date 18?
hahaha, no. I think these dating questions would have worked better if I had more than two guys on my fan list. I've known Ann-Marie since I was 2, so it's not like I'd have to date her to get to know her better or anything like that!
→What do you think 9's parents are like?
I know Jacque! She is a wonderful, classy French lady that I will seek out to say hi to at church. She is so caring and warm, and those attributes were definitely passed down to Rhonda! I'm sure they will be passed down to little Jae, too!
--> is 10 single?
I am not sure -- I haven't seen her in years! I know Kathy has some beautiful kids though!
→If you had never met 3, how would your life be different?
I would have been a very boring band geek, that's for sure. Anna helped save me :-)
→If you could tell 8 one thing right now, what would it be?
I MISS YOU! and I'm sorry I couldn't make it out a few weeks ago -- I ended up painting the nursery until about 11p that night, since I'm out of town every weekend until Sept 26. I'm trying to get all this stuff situated while I can.
→What is the funniest thing you've ever heard 16 do?
Preset the radio in his car to a classical music station so that if he were to ever get pulled over with a bunch of crazy Wesley girls in the car, he could immediately switch to something more refined then whatever it was we were listening to :-) Of course, that would never happen . . . right?
→How did you meet 15?
At VT Wesley Foundation. He was Ryan's roommate, and Ryan and I just became immediate friends. I really don't remember ever meeting Ryan, he was just always there. It's the same way with Matt, except that I know Ryan brought him to Wesley and introduced us. The rest is history!
→How did you become friends with 10?
We were in elementary school and brownies together!
→If 3 died, would you be lost?
I wouldn't be lost, but I would be extremely upset. I've known Anna for jeeze, 14 years?
→What is the weirdest thing you've ever seen 4 do?
Sadly I have not seen Nicole do anything 'weird.' I am sure she's got it in her though!
→What is 7's only weakness?
Tammie probably doesn't have one. If you want something done and done right, talk to her.
→Are you friends with any of 19's friends?
Coworkers most likely!
→Do you think 16 and 8 would make a good couple?
Nope, I think they're perfect with the people they're already with!
→What is the most badass thing you've ever seen or heard 12 do?
Kelly, have you ever done anything you would consider 'badass'? If so, please let me know :-)
→What is the one thing 20 most exceeds at?
Knowing how to have a good time, and ensuring that anyone around her is also having the time of their life! She is very inclusive, and knows how to get a party started. I'm pretty sure she was the culprit behind the soul train at our office christmas party!
→If 1 and 3 hated each other, what would change?
Nothing, I don't believe they know each other.
→If 2 said to you that she/he loved 7, what would your response be?
I would be extremely surprised, then tell her she's nuts.
My appointment is in one hour. I am equipped with my camera, so I hope to be able to get some cute pics this time around. I was amazed at how 'big' the kid was at 12 weeks. I can't imagine what the baby will look like at 19 (20 tomorrow!) weeks.
I'll update this post in due time . . .
***UPDATE***
We had our appointment. Everything went very well -- the baby is measuring exactly where it should be, at 19 weeks and 5 days. It has a strong heart, a beautifully developed brain, and a nicely formed and very flexible spine.
The baby also has no sign of male genitalia.
So, WOW --- a baby girl???? Like I said earlier in this post, this is SHOCKING!!!
Cassidy Alessandra, then, is on the way. She'll come into this world with two built-in playmates, Maddy and Aubrey, her girl cousins. That's really awesome, actually. And I know that every baby has its own personality, but I do hope that Cassy will be tough -- playing sports and what not. I was that way, because my mom was a tomboy and my dad taught me softball at a very young age. I liked playing outside, in the dirt, and I never wore dresses at all unless I was forced to for picture day.
Oh, jeeze, I'm excited. I can't believe how excited I am!!!!!!!!!
8/29 - ransacking the nursery
9/3 - AJ or Cassidy? We shall see!
9/4 - 9/6 - New York trip with mom and sisters!
9/12 - 9/21 - Western Carribbean Cruise w/ Eric for our 5 year anniversary!!
9/26 - Gettysburg wedding for Ann and Brad!
10/3 - Sweetwater date with Matt and Courtney!
10/10 - NOTHING
10/17 - NOTHIING
10/24 - Celebrate my nieces 2nd birthday at a pumpkin patch!!
10/30 - 5 year anniversary!
10/31 - Halloween!
In November, we are only scheduled to do something for Thanksgiving, and that something is the dual visitation to the Smith's and Ebert's. Then the day after thanksgiving -- Get our tree and decorate for Christmas!!
12/4 - Red Team holiday dinner
12/12 (Early Afternoon) - Shower!
12/12 (Evening) SAVE THE DATE: Christmas Party! 5pm - 10pm official hours, can stay longer if you want :-)
12/19 - Truffle making party at my sister's!
12/25 - MERRY CHRISTMAS!
12/31 - New Year's Eve
1/1 - New Year's DAY!
The piece de resistance in January . . . BABY!! They say the last 6 weeks or so of pregnancy creep by. We'll see if that's the case, with all the holidays and other events thrown in :-) I love keeping busy. It makes me appreciate weekends 'off' so much more!
(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 3''s of Me, tag 20 people - in the right hand corner of the app - then click publish.)
Three names I go by:
1. CJ or ceeje (pro: siege)
2. (Aunt) Car Car
3. CC
Three Jobs I have had in my life:
1. "Office Specialist"
2. Operations Team Lead
3. Operations Manager
Three Places I have lived:
1. Sterling, VA
2. Blacksburg, VA
3. Reston, VA
Three Favorite drinks:
1. Coke Zero
2. UNsweetened Ice Tea
3. Lemonade
Three TV Shows that I watch:
1. The Office
2. Jeopardy!
3. Just Shoot Me
Three places I have been:
1. Bobita, Dominican Republic
2. Taveuni, Fiji
3. Mont Tremblant, Canada
People that call me regularly:
1. Amanda (sister)
2. Eric
3. Mom
Three of my favorite restaurants:
1. Outback
2. On the Border
3. Cafesano
Three friends I think will respond:
1. I
2. Don't
3. Know
Three Things I am looking forward to:
1. 5 year anniversary cruise to Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Caymen and Cozumel!
2. New York trip with my mom and sistrs!
3. My kid being born!
Three pet peeves:
1. People who drive with their turn signal on, with no intention of getting into the next lane
2. early morning "oops, I dialed the wrong number" calls
3. continuously reminding yourself to do something, then forgetting to do it
I am a centrist moderate social authoritarian
Left: 0.86, Authoritarian: 2.58
Political Spectrum Quiz
http://carlynusbaum.myphotoalbum.com/vi
I'd say the vacation was a success. This year at the house we had the usual suspects Courtney and Matt Siverthorn, Me and Eric, and newcomers Matt and Sarah McHugh, Tito Alvarez, Kelly Meadows, Matt Duis, and Kendra Lane. It was a full and happy house -- all of the bedrooms were on the ground level, and the laundry, kitchen, dining, and living area was all upstairs. Our deck overlooked the ocean and beach, and we were so close we could hear the ocean from any room in the house!
The Silverthorns and Nusbaums drove down Saturday morning, and stayed the night at my parent's house in Hatteras on the sound. We did the Capt'n Franks stop, had some tastey dogs and fries, bought a couple of t-shirts, and then visited the game store and a new store called Island Nautical. That might be my new favorite store at the beach. I would have probably purchased a lot of things if I didn't already have my heart set on a hammock from Nags Head Hammocks.
There was a massive traffic back up due to an SUV/Tow Truck collision on 158. The two lanes in either direcation highway had to be shut down for over an hour to clean up the mess -- it was kind of funny to watch a tow truck tow another tow truck -- but I felt really bad for the people just starting their vacation. Man does that suck.
We managed to get into our house around 3 on Sunday, about 3 hours earlier than usual. The keys were actually ready around 2, but we had to drive 45 minutes from Hatteras to our house in Rodanthe. Nevertheless we were able to get into the house and onto the beach all in the same day!
Bocce was had by all. We managed to play some volleyball this year, and Matt and I built a sweet sandcastle that I nicknamed "the Castle Ruins" because we got to watch our work get swallowed up by high tide. It was really pretty to watch, actually. We went mini golfing, found a baby bat (I bought two so I don't have to search high and low for one next year!), we played new games and of course we played backgammon. I almost had Eric in the first game where he didn't have to point out anything to "help" me . . . and then he sucked out on the river by rolling double 3's -- a miracle roll that got his last blot off the board. If he hadn't rolled that, I would have won. Oh well, there's always next year.
We went out for a group dinner at Tale of the Whale. It was fun to get all dressed up for a night out, but unfortunately it was so windy the pictures didn't turn out as nicely as they (should) have. I gotta say, though, the lobster and shrimp bisque was exquisite, and the hot crab dip divine. I got a half steak and half ribs dinner, which wasn't bad but could have been so much better. I should have followed Courtney's lead and gotten the lobster.
The weather this year was so much windier than in years past. It made it uncomfortable to sit down on the beach, because the sand would whip at you and sting you everywhere. Luckily our house was basically right on the beach so we could just sit up on the deck and enjoy the beach from there.
The water was a bit cooler than usual, too. I blame the mild summer we've been having. It wasn't uncomfortably cold, and some days the temperature of the water seemed to rise a bit. We all still went out and boogie boarded, or body surfed, or just bobbed around in the waves. I think my little german jumping bean appreciated it.
The crab fest at Mom and Dad's this year was maybe the best one yet. The crabs were huge and plentiful, and dad steams them to perfection. There was plenty of shrimp and clams, too. The drinks were flowing, and everyone was just relaxed and had a great time. Thankfully the plan to glide innertubes off of the dock never fully came to fruition, otherwise we might have ended the night at the OBX Hospital. As it was my brother and Tito managed to just blow up the innertubes.
We went back to Jurassic Putt for mini golf this year. Matt and Courtney had never been, which meant it was more than time for it to be back in circulation. My favorite part about that was that Eric and I got to get our picture taken in front of the huge T-Rex again, four years after our first picture there, and this time with a little bambino in me. My how time flies!
We all loved the house so much that we decided to get it again for next year. So, next year, if you're interested, we've got Chez Scov II from July 25 - August 1, 2010. The Silverthorns and Nusbaums are definites. We've got two open rooms -- one with singles that can make a queen size bed, and another with one bunk bed and one single (so three beds). We'll have a 6 month old with us, but luckily the house is built such that you can be loud upstairs and the noise doesn't travel into the bedrooms downstairs, so that whole concept of "quiet or you'll wake the baby" won't exist.
Cheers to OBX 2009 . . . already dreaming of 2010!!
http://carlynusbaum.myphotoalbum.com/vi
While we weren't 'trying' to have a baby, we weren't not trying, either. Neither of us wanted the stress of trying to conceive a kid and possibly ending up disappointed month after month, so we shared an 'it will happen in due time' mentality. Sure enough, I achieved my personal goal of graduating from VT, and two days later, found out I'm pregnant. Perfect timing :-)
SO, I am nearly 3 months along, I'm feeling fine -- no 'morning' sickness or anything. Just constantly hungry and tired. But that is all supposed to diminish in the coming weeks.
I just wanted to let everyone know!
And, if you're interested:
Carly and Eric's Baby Pool!
*The game will be locked 12/31/2009*
A - Age: 28
B - Bed size: Queen
C - Chore you hate: Cleaning bathrooms
D - Dog's name: Traveller, after Robert E. Lee's horse.
E - Essential start your day item: Samba purring in my face
F - Favorite color: a mixture of blue and green
G - Gold or Silver: Platinum! (Or silver, if i have to choose between silver and gold)
H. Height: I am 5'6"
I - Instruments you play: Trombone and Clarinet
J - Job title: Operations Manager
K- Kid(s): TBD
L - Living arrangements: Eric, me, and the boys: Samba and Tango, in a SFH in Sterling/Cascades
M - Mom's name: Peggy (NOT MARGARET)
N - Nicknames: I have many, but most common are variations of my name--CJ, CC, Car, Car Car, Ceeje (Siege), Slugs, Doenkey, Beep (Doenkey and Beep by eric only)
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Appendicitis. Boo.
P - Pet Peeve: This trend of radio stations not telling you the band or the name of the song they play
Q - Quote from a movie: Alright, there's 1,000 things that have to happen, in order. We are on number 8. You're talking about number . . . 692.
R - Right or left handed: Righty.
S - Siblings: We're a pack of Smith Kids - Carly, Cary, Amanda, and Dylan.
T - Time you wake up: There are about 12 different times I wake up throughout the night. The time I actually get up, though, is around 8:30.
U- Underwear: It's victoria's secret, and I promised I wouldn't tell.
V - Vegetable you dislike:
W - what makes you run late?: sleep.
X-rays you've had: whatever they do at the dentist's office, and I guess if that thing they did to me when I had appendicitis counts, that would be another. My mom thought I swallowed a quarter when I was a baby, and I think I got one then, but I don't remember.
Y- Yummy food you make: a variation on my mom's potato salad.
Z - Zoo favorite: I love the bat cave. I don't know why. Maybe I really do like robin. And perhaps I'm bat girl.
I got 6 inches cut off my hair, and feel 10 lbs lighter. It's crazy how that happens!
Looking forward to a busy, busy weekend - Monty and Nancy's wedding/reception, helping Mandy and Mark move (moving party!!!), and hopefully mini golfing (or something) with Michelle. Keeping busy helps time pass by faster. Not that I necessarily need that.
http://www.isthisyour.name/
I don't know how I found it, but now I'm fascinated. Did you know that it is very likely I am the ONLY "Carly Nusbaum" in America?
My personal power animal is the bushtail possum (boo).
Plus, there's a bunch of other random things about my name and how well envoweled I am.
Don't think I haven't put in (most) of your names at this point . . . you know, just to see how accurate this thing really is ;-)
What's been happening --
Good News!
--I got my diploma (literally, I mean. I graduated in May but didn't get my degree until last weekend)
--Participated in Relay 4 Life
--Mom and Dad celebrated their 30th anniversary!
--My Niece turned 1, and we attended a wonderful little party for her
--We signed a contract to get our windows replaced (the replacement happens TOMORROW, btw)
--Eric's tickets for the Legg Mason Tennis Classic came in the mail yesterday
--I've downloaded all sorts of good music (legally)
--Saw the Gipsy Kings for the 4th time
--Went to Eric and Emily's baby shower
--Went to Ladies' Night with Courtney and Emily at the Melting Pot. This was my third trip to the MP, ever, and my second one this year :-)
--Saw UP! with Eric and Mike. I cried 4 times. I love Pixar.
--Went to see Amanda, Mark, and Maddy's NEW HOUSE!!!
Bittersweet News
--Tom and Susie moved to Deutschland
--Eric and Emily are moving to WVA
--Amanda, Mark, and Maddy are moving to Winchester (it's really not that bad of a drive . . . but still!)
Not so good news
--I don't think there is any?
--That's good news!
It's a beautiful day out today. The sun is actually shining for once, it's warm out but not too hot, and it's FRIDAY. This week did go by pretty quickly.
Dad's day is this weekend. So, if I don't say it at that point -- Happy Father's day to all you awesome dads out there! I hope you get a cookout and a gift item of your choosing.
I bought a totally 80's tank top from Target the other day. I just fell in love with it, that's all. It's all tie-dyed and whatnot. I can't wait for the beach.
Coming up in the next few weeks:
--Windows
--Helping the Pennypackers move
--Jeremy's birthday
--AT&T National
--Grandma's birthday
--Nancy and Monty's wedding
--4th of July!
--BEACH
So you see, there are only 36 more days until the beach. And all of this is happening before the beach -- so I atleast have something to look forward to every week until then!
1. Who was your FIRST prom date.
Brian Childress for my Jr. Prom
2.Do you still talk to your first love
Not really. I mean, we do if we see each other in passing, but I wouldn't call us friends or anything like that.
There is no #3.
4. What was your FIRST job?
Aside from Babysitting, I was first a CSR at Block Buster Video (Wow, what a difference).
5. What was your FIRST car?
What was it Nate, an 86 or an 87 Chevy Nova Sedan. It was red, and I just had this thing against red cars. Sure enough, I totalled it about 5 days later. Goooooooodness.
6. Who was the FIRST person to text you today?
Rachel Blouse/Spencer
7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?
Eric
8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher?
Mrs. Williams
9. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane?
Florida en route to the Dominican Republic!
10. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk?
Ann-Marie Hajdics, and yes we do!
11. Where was your FIRST sleep over?
My first sleepover aside from my cousin's house would most likely have been at the Hajdics'
12. Who was the first person you talked to today?
Eric
13. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time?
The first wedding I was in was my Uncle Wayne and Aunt Sandi's as a flower girl. I had a princess dress and a wreath of flowers in my hair, and they gave me a silver locket that I wore all the time, until it fell off at school one day.
14. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?
Turned on Saved by the Bell. I'm not embarrased.
15. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to?
My first ever concert was the 1995 HFStival -- we saw a little bit of everything, from No Doubt to the Presidents of the United States of America perform. I got in a mosh pit. I was only 13.
16. FIRST tattoo?
Don't have one. I'm not 100% against it, but it would have to really mean something, and not just be there for decorative purposes. For instance, I've considered getting Eric's name tattooed on my ring finger.
17. FIRST piercing?
I got my ears pierced when I was 8. My mom would say I was 13, but I remember being 8. Then, on my 16th birthday, my friend Priya and I pierced our cartiledge on the upper left ear, as sort of a birthday pact. I think we thought it was scandalous at the time -- but now i'm not so sure that it was.
18. FIRST foreign country you went to?
La Dominicana
19. FIRST movie you remember seeing?
The Sound of Music -- I would curl up into my mom's lap in our big overstuffed recliner in our basement, and we'd have popcorn.
20. When was your FIRST detention?
I never had detention. I came so close once, but Ms. Minnick came to my rescue. It would have been for chewing gum in the library at SMS, on the last day of class. How lame.
22. Who was your FIRST roommate?
Trina, then Laurie. Same Freshman year, but I moved in with Laurie second semester.
23. If you had one wish, what would it be?
I'm so glad I'm not Miss America right now. I don't know how to answer questions like this, because I'm not sure what should take what priority. So, I would say an end to world hunger. I don't think peace can ever exist so long as people have opposing opinions from which radicals are born, but hunger is something that can perceivably be extricated.
24. What is something you would learn if you had the chance?
fluent spanish. I only know conversational spanish, but I would love to be able to speak it as a second languag in its entirety.
25. Did you marry the FIRST person to ask for your hand in marriage?
I most certainly did. Well, the first serious proposal, at least. Drunken idiots at bars don't count in my opinion.
26. What was the first sport that you were involved in?
Softball, on the Jaguars. It was a miracle season. There were only four teams in my league that season: The Fireballs (they beat everyone), the Killer Bees (they beat everyone except the fireballs), my team (we could only beat the shamrocks), and then the Shamrocks (they had a 0-win season). In the playoffs, The Jaguars beat the Killer Bees! Then we ran down to watch the fireballs, tied 0-0 in the fifth, beat the Shamrocks 1-0 by the end of the game. Then, unbelievably, my team ended up beating the Fireballs in the championship! It was honestly a thrilling time in my 12-year-old life.
27. What were the first lessons you ever took
I took Jazz, Tap, and Ballet when I was a pudgy kindergartner. I remember my first recital -- I kept looking over to my teacher to try to remember what steps to do, when. My tutu outfit was all white, with a sequined red rose with a long green stem going down the center of my leotard.
28. What is the first thing you do when you get home?
Squeak at Tango and meow at Samba.
29. Who do you think will be the first person to post this?
No idea
30. When was your first kiss 'that you would count'?
It was Jimmy McKinley, but I don't remember what grade I was in. Maybe 5th or 6th, because it was at Andrea Parker's house, and we were still in the same grade at that point.
31. In what grade did you feel really confident?
I didn't start to feel really confident until I got out in the working world and started to really understand how things work. Really, when you're in school, covered by someone else's finances, I think you're blind to how things really are. Once I was out on my own, making my own money, paying my own bills, I felt more confident because at that point, I knew I could take care of myself should I ever have to do so.
32. When did you receive your first "F" in school?
I failed I think math one time back in High School. I was so scared to tell my parents, but they were very understanding and just said to do better next time. It might have been chemistry. I wasn't good at either of those courses.
33. First important event / activity from which you were cut?
I didn't make high school Softball. It was a shock to me, and I think to several other girls that I had grown up playing softball with, that did end up making the team. I had made the all star team every year in little league. I have my thoughts on why this happened, but whatever, it's in the past. I joined the lacrosse team instead.
34. When did you first realize that you no longer believed in what you once believed in?
Don't stop . . . believin' . . . seriously though, I still believe in everything I've ever believed in: Family, Friends, and religion.
35. What is your most memorable family vacation?
Every year at the Outer Banks -- these vacations still happen, though we don't all stay in the same house. At least we still go the same week!
36. What would you do over if you could?
I would have probably gone straight to work outside of high school until I was more certain of what I wanted to do with my life. I'm not saying that the first three years of college were a waste, but I will say that the past year and a half that I've completed college I've spent much more time learning and appreciating my studies. I feel like I learned more about myself in the past year and a half than I ever did physically at college.
37. Besides raising your children and marrying your spouse, what accomplishment are you most proud of? Going back to college after 5 years of being 'out of the game.' It's really not easy balancing college and a full time career, especially when most of your professors think you are just another early 20's student that 'doesn't care.' I had to actually battle for a semester project that one professor thought I couldn't possibly have done on my own, because the quality was simply more than she expected out of her students. I had to explain that I've been doing this sort of thing (creating a wedding on a $50k budget) for years, and that as an operations manager I frequently am in charge of organizing and managing events from start to finish, as well as invoicing. She understood after my explanation, but it's a different form of stereotyping than I expecting to encounter!
38. What's at the top of your "bucket list"?
Make it back to the Dominican Republic one day, to help out at the orphanage.
39. Who's the most famous person you've ever met?
Maybe Howie Day? I'm not sure . . .
http://carlynusbaum.myphotoalbum.com/vi
Enjoy!
Since then, I've been on the phone almost daily trying to get my transcripts from GMU and NVCC-L over to Tech. Just how difficult do you think this could possibly be? My final grades were posted, I put through the transcript requests, case closed, right?
So here I am on May 29th, having just submitted my THIRD transcript request to NVCC-L. I've taken so many classes from that institution and I have *never* had this much trouble getting the transcripts to Tech. I'm being told it's because of my last name discrepancy. At Tech I'm a Smith, and at NVCC I'm a Nusbaum.
Isn't that what your SSN or PID is supposed to help with?
This time I have them going directly to a person in the registrar's office, as opposed to the office in general. We'll see how that goes.
Now, GMU. Where do the issues with this institution end? They have not made one single thing easy. Case in point, here is a notice on their site:
Visa credit cards will no longer be accepted effective Fall 2009. MasterCard, Discover and American Express will be accepted online only, and a 2.75 percent convenience fee will apply. Faxed and in-person credit card payments will no longer be accepted at the Cash Office. Electronic check payments may be made without a fee.
SO, when registering for classes people, look out. You can't pay your registration fee in person unless you have a whole lot of cash with you. Because that's common, right? College kids, carrying a lot of cash around?
I digress.
Mason actually sent my transcripts. And since I was at Mason as Smith, there was no name discrepancy. Well, at least, not with JUST my last name.
When Tech received my transcripts from GMU, they credited some OTHER Carly J. Smith's account.
WTF mate?
I had reached out to someone in the registrar's office with my concerns on Tuesday, and was told they would contact me as soon as they had some information. Since it's Friday and I don't want this to fly under the radar, I popped an email back saying that i could have additional transcripts sent out to go to a specific individual, if that would help. That is when I got the response that GMU's transcripts had been received, processed, and posted. Of course, they were not on my account so I asked if there was another location under which they could have been filed. Sure enough, there is now, apparently, another Carly J. Smith at VT. Or, that's the story I'm being told, at least.
Long story short, that whole debacle has been resolved and NVCC remains outstanding. At least the GMU class was processed correctly (as my Senior Seminar/cornerstone class). We'll see how it goes. I just have to keep reminding myself that in the end, I'm just simply done with all of this.
Graduation -- http://carlynusbaum.myphotoalbum.com/vi
Eric's 28th -- http://carlynusbaum.myphotoalbum.com/vi
Luray Caverns -- http://carlynusbaum.myphotoalbum.com/vi
